The Day of the Fall
by verdantscribe
Summary: After Rhett left and disappeared into the early morning mist, Scarlett finds herself back in the day of her fall, still pregnant and still with the chance to fix everything.
1. Chapter 1

Ever since she was a little girl, Scarlett O'Hara had always been with someone. Even if they were little more than burdens atop her shoulders, they had been with her, and she had never been alone.

When she was still a young girl running with the county boys through the cotton fields of Clayton County, it had been Pa, who had loved and spoiled her with everything he had, Mother, who had been a sturdy, gentle, loving figure to her despite her distance, and Mammy, who had raised her with an iron fist and the warmth her saintly mother did not give.

When she became a young widow living in a world consumed by the flames, it had been Mammy, whose unwavering support she had not appreciated as much as she ought to, Ashley, who had been the object of her blind infatuation, Wade, her son who she had never properly loved, and Melly, her sister-in-law whose quiet strength and devotion Scarlett had never paid attention to.

When she became a young businesswoman reviled by Atlanta's Old Guard, it had still been been Mammy, strong and comforting as ever, Ashley, who did not find it in himself to tell her the truth and end her obsession with him once and for all, Wade, who she had ignored and fended off to others, and Melly, kind and unappreciated as ever, but Rhett, Ella, and Bonnie had joined their ranks, although their affection had been stars whose light she had failed to see as she continued to covet the moon.

But now, as she stood as the young survivor of all the turbulent years that had passed, she had no-one.

Pa and Mother were long gone.

Mammy was in Tara, far from her reach and nearing death's door with every day that dawned.

Ashley had dwindled into nothing. He was a shell of the man he used to be, was not even half the man Scarlett thought him of being, and would never be any comfort to her after all those years he spent knowing that she was throwing away happiness for him and never telling her outright that her feelings were not returned, all because he was a coward who had secretly found solace in her unwavering devotion, the one thing that remained from the world of grace and comfort he had once known.

Melly was gone, dead before Scarlett truly understood her value.

Bonnie was also gone, dead before Scarlett could be a good mother.

Wade and Ella were in Marietta, far from her reach like Mammy, and she could only hope that she would be able to make up for the years of neglect and chastisement they had experienced under her hand.

And Rhett...

Rhett was gone, too. He left her, just like Melly and Bonnie. But he was still alive, although far from her reach like her children and Mammy.

Rhett had loved her, and she had been too blind to see it.

No.

Rhett had loved her, but he had been too afraid of her scorn that he hid it, knowing full well that her mind, which had never been one for introspection, would never be able to see through the uncaring facade he had perfected through his years of gambling and trade.

In the early years of their marriage, he had always gazed at her with that look she had compared to a cat waiting in front of a mouse hole. She had never been able to figure out what he was waiting for, what he was searching.

Now, though, the answer was as obvious as the beating of her heart: He had been waiting for her to love him. He had been looking deeply, intently, into her eyes, searching for anything, even just the faintest hint, that would prove she had finally developed some modicum of romantic feeling for him.

For twelve years he had waited for her to love him back, and when she finally did, it had been too late.

They had hurt each other too much, suffered too much, lost too much, and his love had ran out. They had been at cross purposes that fateful morning; Rhett, who had always longed for her love, no longer wanted it when she offered it to him.

Scarlett had always been a person who did not cry over past mistakes. In fact she did not cry over the past at all. But that morning in September, that morning when Melanie died and Rhett walked out into the mist, Scarlett O'Hara let go of her pride, her dignity, and sobbed long and hard for everything she had lost, for everything she had thrown away with open eyes and open palms. She had finally mourned the past that morning. She had finally realized her errors and experienced true regret.

It was useless though, and she knew it. There was a strange solace in crying alone, a peculiar comfort brought by each tear she shed, but time still passed on. She could never undo the past. All she could do was repent the present and hope for the future.

She had no idea how much time she spent venting her sorrows on the staircase, but when her melancholy finally abated enough for her to stand, the sun was shining brightly like a joyous ruler looking down on beloved subjects.

At first, Scarlett was onl thinking of how she could be crying for so long. Then, she felt the distinct lack of lush carpeting underneath her on the stairs.

And then, she realized two things.

First, the sun couldn't have been grinning down from the heavens. It was September, and in Atlanta it was unheard of for the heavy clouds to part until spring.

Second, she shouldn't have been able to see the world outside, for heavy crimson curtains should have been covering the windows. In fact, the only moment that those curtains have been taken off was when Rhett left with Bonnie and Scarlett, hoping perpetual brightnes would in turn lighten her pain, ordered every window in the house to be bared.

She looked around her mansion's opulent front hall. It looked exactly the same, though Scarlett swore the flowers on the golden vases were different than what they had been that morning.

With anxious eyes she stood up, bothered by these peculiarities, and decided to go up to her bedroom to rest. It had been a long, exhausting day, and it must have been finally taking its toll on her. "I'm tired and my brain's just muddled," she whispered to herself. "A nap will fix it and then I'll think about everything tomorrow."

Her steps were slow and sluggish, and both her hands were clutching the railing tightly. Her shoulders were slumped, weighed down by the world, and her brain was being pricked by pins and needles. Her whole body, from her head to her toes, felt like it was being anchored down.

She heard a click behind her, and as the heavy doors creaked open she felt the urge to run and close herself off from the world. No one ever visited her. Shen was hated by Atlanta's Old Guard and she hadn't spoken to her Carpetbagger and Scalawag friends for a long time. The servants would never dare use the front entrance, which means this surprise visitor was either Aunt Pitty who had come to sob and ask her what they were going to do now that Melly was gone, or Uncle Peter who had come to tell her that his Miz Pitty needed her company.

Scarlett had half a mind to release an exasperated sigh, but she realized something. She had heard the lock _click_.

There were only four keys to the front door. The first one was with Pork, since he was the butler. The second was with Mammy at Tara, since she had been the household's main servant. The third key was was with Rhett, who had just walked out on her. And the fourth was in her room, safely locked in her vanity table.

A crease formed between Scarlett's brows. Who on earth was at the door? Before she could turn and check, she was stopped by a familiar voice that made her blood run cold.

"Mama! Mama, we're home!"

Scarlett felt faint, and with an ashen face she slowly turned to look at the small, familiar figure that was running towards her.

"Did you miss us, Mama? Daddy brought me to see Grandma before we went—"

She heard nothing. She felt nothing. Her mind was at a standstill, desperately trying to comprehend the sight before her.

A sob threatened to tear through her throat. Tears made the world around her blurry, but the one who stood in front of her was unmistakable.

It was her beloved daughter who had left them too early, her vivacious, winsome, beautiful little girl.

It was her precious little Bonnie Blue.

"Mama? Mama, are you alright?"

Scarlett nodded dumbly. Tears spilled down her cheeks, but she didn't care.

She knelt on the wooden steps and pulled Bonnie's little body tightly towards her. If this was a dream, Scarlett never wanted to wake up. She would forever be happy if she could stay this way, her arms around her daughter, feeling the warmth and joy that had left her after the little girl's death.

Scarlett didn't know how long she held her daughter, but the moment felt like hours instead of minutes. When Bonnie pulled away, she felt the void in her heart return with a vengeance.

"Look, Mama, Grandma gave me a kitten! But London was horrible."

The little girl then raised the little creature proudly, sure that her mother would love it just as much as her young heart did.

Scarlett only took one glance at the tiny animal before pressing a kiss on Bonnie's head and pulling her closer.

"That's was lovely of him to do, precious."

Her daughter only hummed. It wasn't long before she grew restless and asked her mother, "Mama, where's my pony? I wanna go out and see my pony!"

Her lips quivered. In Scarlett's mind, Bonnie was atop her pony, attempting to jump but failing and inevitably breaking her delicate little neck. With watery eyes she nodded. "You go out and see your pony, precious. You wait here while I fetch Mammy—'"

Scarlett stopped. Mammy was at Tara, but if this day was what she though it was, then Mammy should already be at the bottom of the stairs, attentively waiting to be of service.

She gulped and tore her eyes away from her daughter. Just like the day of her fall, Mammy really was there, her hands clasped in front of her, her eyes shining as she took in the sight of her lamb and Miz Bonnie.

"You be careful and run along with Mammy," Scarlett told her, hesitant to look at the front door and see Rhett, the only man she had ever truly loved.

"Come on, honey chile." Mammy's familiar, warm voice was like a balm that suited Scarlett's aching soul immediately.

She turned and gazed at her husband from beneath her lashes. He looked different from what he did that morning. Gone were the lines of grief that marred his handsome face. Gone was the exhaustion and melancholy in his eyes. Gone was the bloated figure he acquired from the alcohol he drowned himself in ever since Bonnie's death.

He walked towards her slowly, his lips twisted into a mocking smile. Scarlett's breath hitched when he took her hand and pressed a kiss on her knuckles. "Mrs. Butler, I believe?"

* * *

**A/N: I'm a sucker for fanfiction where Scarlett goes back in time (A Second Wind by SkyBlueSW is one of my favorites) and because I haven't seen any where Scarlett goes back to the day of her fall, I decided to just go and write it myself.**

**I really hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to review and point out any mistake I might have made. Requests and suggestions are most welcome.**


	2. Chapter 2

She stood up, her pulse racing. They were only a few inches apart and she longed to wrap her arms around him and confess her undying love once again. "I—I missed you, Rhett." His eyes were fixed on her in that searching, cat in a mouse hole way that made her feel an overwhelming urge to look anywhere but at him. "And Bonnie, too. I thought you two were never coming back."

She spoke the truth, in more ways than one.

Silence hung between them for a moment. Both had many things they longed to tell the other, but both lacked the courage and strength to do it.

Finally, Rhett remarked, "You're looking pale, Mrs. Butler. May I be so bold as to suggest that this is because, as you said, you've missed me and Bonnie?"

A familiar ache settled on Scarlett's chest. The last time she had heard those words had been on this very staircase, on this very day.

She looked down at her stomach. In this world, in this dream, she was yet to have her fall. Here Bonnie was still alive, Rhett had still not given up, and of course, her unborn child was still growing inside of her.

For perhaps the hundredth time that day, tears pricked the corner of her eyes. "Well, only partly, Rhett..." She paused but didn't dare meet his eyes. Even if all this was not real, she still yearned to do everything right. "You see..."

Rhett observed her keenly as she fumbled for what to say. She was thinner than she had been before he left with Bonnie, but her skin was positively aglow. So were her eyes, as dazzling and green as emeralds, and although he couldn't bring himself to believe it, his mind knew they now bore that warm glimmer he had waited to see for so long.

He took her hand in his. "What is it, Scarlett? You're not really sick, are you?"

"Oh Rhett," she huffed. "You know I never get sick unless I'm in the family way. Although if I'm being honest..." She brought their clasped hands atop her stomach and bit her lip. She knew Rhett wanted this baby, but anxiety stubbornly settled in her chest. "I am. In the family way, that is. I-I wanted to tell you Rhett, but I didn't know where you and Bonnie were and I…"

She went on, but Rhett was not listening. In fact, he failed to hear a thing after she said she never got sick unless she was in the family way. Disbelief and joy made his throat constrict. Pregnant. Scarlett was pregnant. And more than that, Scarlett was both pregnant and not screaming at him to let her get rid of it.

In a voice that was not quite his own, he cut off whatever she had been saying. "Since you aren't throwing the tantrum of the century, Mrs. Butler, I take it you aren't very much against this baby?"

"Of course, Rhett!" She hadn't meant to, but the words came tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them. Eyes afire, she confessed, "I love our baby very much. Why, I know this will only make you think that I'm a horrible mother even more than you do, but this is the first time I'm actually excited to be having a baby, and I just hope we can finally raise a child _togeth_—"

Again, Rhett only heard half of what she was saying. The strange feeling that he would soon wake up, still in the train bound for Atlanta, and realize all this was merely a dream served as his mind's only coherent thought. Surely his wife, who had raged and screamed at him to let her have an abortion to get rid of Bonnie, would never be happy to carry his child.

"Rhett," Her voice broke him out of his reverie. Her emerald eyes no longer shone with vehemence, but instead with hesitance. She knew he loved their baby, but she needed to hear it nonetheless. "You do want our baby, don't you?"

"You seem so sure that this is my child, Mrs. Butler." Just like his wife, the errant words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them. "Tell me, whatever would the honorable Mr. Wilkes say?"

Wide eyed, Scarlett felt a flicker of rage at his words, although she quickly took comfort in the fact that he was merely hurt and jealous. Yes, hurt and jealous. He wanted their baby and he didn't really doubt that it was his. He would admit that and apologized if only she remained calm and collected.

"He would say nothing but words of congratulations," she told her husband softly. "And of course this child is yours, how can you doubt that, Rhett?"

Her emerald eyes glimmered with pain, and although he would never admit it even to himself, Rhett felt his heart break. "Forgive me, my pet. I merely find it strange that you want to be pregnant with a child who wasn't sired by your beloved Ashley Wilkes."

"Oh hush up, Rhett." Her voice was gentle, but he knew she was fighting an uphill battle to control her temper. "You know I had never been and never will be with Ashley. I don't want a child from him any more than you would. Besides…" she looked down, her voice almost a whisper. "…I haven't thought of him one bit since you and Bonnie left, and I hope you would stop bringing him up all the time."

Once again, she gazed at her husband from beneath her lashes. He wore his usual mask of indifference, but Scarlett knew he was delighted by what she told him.

"I see," he said, slowly, as if testing the words. "And may I ask what brought on the elegant Mr. Wilkes' fall from your favor?"

Scarlett's heart sank. Once again, she looked down. Rhett was making this immensely difficult. Why did he have to ask so many questions? Why couldn't he just accept that she wasn't reaching for the moon anymore? Why couldn't he just sweep her off her feet, take her to bed, and confess his undying love for her? The answer was simple: He was Rhett Butler, and Rhett Butler had always been distrustful, disbelieving, and utterly disagreeable.

"Well you see, Rhett..." He was still regarding her with intense, searching eyes. Scarlett had a half mind to turn tail and run. "Well...do you remember what happened at the Mill before Ashley's party?"

She flinched, sure that she said the wrong thing. Under pressure or not, how could she be so foolish?

"I do recall Archie's words about your…_tryst_...with Mr. Wilkes."

Scarlett squirmed. She did not dare meet his eyes

"Well you see, Melly told me to go keep Ashley at the Mill and make sure he doesn't come home early and foil their surpri—"

"How nice of Mrs. Wilkes to give you more time alone with her husband."

Scarlett, with considerable effort, chose to take the high ground and ignore him. If he cut her off one more time, he would be face to face with her infamous wrath once again. "After I got to the mill, well, Ashley kept talking about the past, even after I asked him to stop. You know me, Rhett, I don't think about things at all if they know that they're painful. That was the first time I ever thought of all I've lost in the past years, and so I cried, and Ashley tried to comfort me—"

"And then your romantic moment was rudely interrupted by Archie and India. Accept my sympathies, Scarlett, it must have been heartbreaking for your embrace to be cut short."

She bit her lip to swallow an angry retort. _He's just jealous and hurt,_ she told herself over and over again. "Oh Rhett, will you stop? Ashley hugged me, but there was nothing romantic about it. It felt like a hug between an old friend, not an old love."

He closed the already small distance between them and she continued, "A-and then there was what happened in his actual birthday party. You can gloat all you want Rhett, but I just have to admit that was when my fantasies of him shattered. I realized—well, he was looking guilty as sin and hiding behind Melly's skirts instead of making it clear that we did nothing wrong—I realized that he was worlds away from what I thought he was, from what my mind kept stubbornly thinking he was."

He said nothing, and the heavy silence that followed suffocated them both.

With red-stained cheeks, Scarlett chose to say more. "And then there was the night we spent, Rhett." Oh, she felt like she was going to die of shame! "You know I've always regretted throwing you out of our room, and I wanted to take it back, I really did, but I didn't know how to." Her words were quick and barely discernible as she struggled to speak. "My pride was in the way, and you acted like you didn't care if I slept with you or not so I felt like you were only going to laugh at me if I invited you back. But then that night happened and—'

"And what, honey?" His deep voice sent shivers down her spine, and the arm he wrapped around her waist made her whole body tingle.

"Please don't make me say it, Rhett."

He pressed her closed against his chest and whispered, "Say it, my pet. Did I hurt you that night? Or did you find it quite…gratifying?"

It was certain now. Scarlett was going to die of embarrassment. "Don't make me answer that, Rhett, it's indecent."

His lips on her ear startled her, and she was hit with the overwhelming thought that all of this was just too much. "Rhett…"

"Just answer honestly, my pet, what miracle happened that night that made you not only want our baby, but also realize you weren't really in love with the wooden-headed Mr. Wilkes?"

Her face reddened even more. She had thought about how she should have confessed her new feelings for Rhett, although she did not fully understand them at that time, for many a time and she knew that the talk would have been uncomfortable, but not _this_ much. "You know I can't talk about this, Rhett. It's not proper. Mother would be rolling in her grave and…" Scarlett cursed herself for being a coward. She needed to tell him the truth, that he had succeeded in making her fall in love with him. If only she wasn't feeling so damn shy. "I-I didn't know why but I was so happy the morning after, Rhett, before I found out you were gone...and I think I might have...have..."

_Say it, _Rhett screamed in mind. He pulled her closer to him, almost madly eager to finally hear her say those words. _Say it, Scarlett. Say it._

"Well," she hesitated, but eventually continued. "I think I might have realized that I-that I—well…" With burning cheeks, she steeled her nerves and blurted out, "You might not believe me, but I think I've finally realized that I love you."

* * *

**A/N: Don't hunt me down with pitchforks and torches, but I really had half a mind to just end this whole story here. I know, I know, that's an awful thing to even think, and I do intend to make this fanfic longer and cover how Scarlett would try to stop Bonnie and Melly's deaths, but the urge to just hit me so suddenly.**

**I've already started on Chapter 3, and if everything goes well I would probably be able to update tomorrow or the day after that. Thank you so much for reading this and p****lease feel free to review and point out any mistake I might have made. Requests and suggestions are most welcome.**


	3. Chapter 3

Like when she told him that Ashley was not what she had dreamed he was, Rhett said nothing.

The seconds dragged on like hours as the tension between them grew and grew.

Scarlett kept her head down, her courage now greatly diminished. Perhaps she should have just told him she missed him and saved the grander proclamations for later.

The heavy silence between them continued to fester and for one fleeting, terrifying moment, Scarlett O'Hara was sure that her husband would walk away and leave her once again.

He did not, though.

He was torn between joy and disbelief, but the thought of going back to the Station as he originally planned never once crossed his mind.

Ten years. In his disoriented state, Rhett Butler could think of nothing coherent but those two all-consuming words.

For a decade he had loved her, and for a decade he had waited restlessly for the day she would love him back. He had waited so long, and now, faced with what he had dreamed and longed for all those years, his dumbfounded head could conjure nothing concerning what he would do next at all.

Slowly, as the webs of surprise ebbed and melted away, Rhett placed a hand under her chin and forced her to look up at him. Her anxious emerald green eyes met his obsidian ones, and once again he felt his heart surrender and proclaim defeat.

"Scarlett," he whispered, his voice warm and gentle as a summer breeze. "Say that again."

Shyly, she took his hand that held her face and squeezed it tenderly. She mustered all the courage that she could and whispered, almost imperceptibly, "I love you, Rhett."

Without preamble, his lips pressed against hers, and suddenly she wondered how she had gone without his kisses for years. Fighting back tears from spilling down her cheeks, Scarlett prayed that she had really been blessed with a second chance, that she would never wake and realize that all of this had been nothing but a mere dream.

Rhett's thoughts were not so different from hers. If he woke up and realized that he was still in the train headed back to Atlanta, he did not know how he would cope.

They had spent so much time being at cross purposes that the prospect of finally moving forward seemed unthinkable, like an impossible fantasy they had both incessantly wished for but never once thought would be realized.

Now, though, wrapped in each other's arms, lips entwined and hearts tangled, his incredulity vanished at the prospect of indecision. He knew they would never be happy if he let this moment slip by. Heart blazing with resolution, Rhett Butler swore he would never let his wife's offered love, may it be transient or everlasting, be sent to waste.

When finally the sound of footsteps forced their ardent lips to part, they met each other's eyes and knew that genuine bliss was finally in their grasp.

Both acknowledged that miles were yet to be trod before the bridge of reconciliation was completely crossed. Both admitted that the impending discussion of their marital faults would be a winding, rough, and narrow path. But with the light of hope and love leading their way, the journey did not seem so very difficult nor overwhelming.

When Mammy entered the front hall with Miz Bonnie holding her hand, her sharp eyes gazed suspiciously on her embarrassed lamb and the smiling Captain Butler, and the fact that they stood uncharacteristically close to each other.

No servant had the right to pry in their masters' affairs, but she hoped that those two stubborn mules had finally seen sense. It had truly been long enough.

"Mama!" The excited Miz Bonnie ran towards the mother who she had missed all so much, and when that mother crouched and wrapped her arms around her little form, a smile appeared on Mammy's weathered face as she left to go back to her terrorizing of the new maids and footmen.

Bonnie's calling out to Scarlett first had saddened a small part of Rhett, the part that still doubted Scarlett's love and cruelly wanted to run her out of their daughter's heart for good, but a much larger chamber of his soul delighted in his wife and daughter's shared embrace.

His Bonnie Blue had missed her mother terribly, and the notoriously hardhearted Captain Butler felt an avalanche of guilt as he allowed himself to think of how his little girl would ask for her mother every morning they had been away.

Oblivious to her husband's shame, Scarlett marveled at the warmth embracing Bonnie made her feel. She had taken the girl in her arms only a few times before the little one's untimely death, and had given even less affection to her other offspring.

With mournful eyes Scarlett thought of Wade and Ella, her poor children who she had neglected and ignored. It then at last hit her that she had not only been blessed with a chance to be a good mother to Bonnie, but to her other children as well.

If her recollections proved true, then her two oldest should be at the Wilkes', happily receiving their beloved aunt's love and little Beau Wilkes' company.

Now determined, Scarlett, with great effort, pulled away from Bonnie and turned towards her husband, whose dark gaze made her waver only for a moment.

"The—" Scarlett winced at what she would soon say. "The children went this morning to Melly's house to play with Beau. Do you..." she paused and looked at him with hesitant green eyes. "Do you want to go fetch them with me, Rhett?"

Bonnie now in his arms, her husband nodded with ridiculous solemnity. "It would be an honor, Mrs. Butler. Though are you sure you want to go and fetch the children now?"

His tone bore no sign of ill will, but his wife understood the question trapped on the tip of his tongue. These unspoken words hung in the air like anchors made of lead: _"Are you sure you don't want to wait for Ashley Wilkes to be at home before you go and visit his house?"_

She forced an innocent expression on her face. "Of course I do, why ever would I want to go there later, Rhett?"

He gave her deceptively innocent grin. "Why, to have dinner there, of course." A restless Bonnie squirmed and then demanded to be immediately set down. Her father did so with his gaze still set on her beloved mother's face. "Although, Mrs. Butler, if we do dine there at their place, Miss Melly may have nothing that will please your quite…extravagant tastes."

His wife humored him with a beguiling smile of her own. "I'm certain that she will, if ever we decide to dine there." However she managed to speak with nonchalance would always be a miracle to herself and her husband. Little hands tugged on her voluminous skirts, and Scarlett felt her heart melt at her daughter's impatient pout. "Come, Bonnie, let's get you dressed. We're going to your Aunt Melly's!"

Without Ripper's claws enclosing it in fog and gloom, the little house on Ivy Street looked vastly different from what it did under the rosy fingers of dawn, the time Scarlett stood before it last.

Wounds caused by Melly's passing ripped open and throbbed in Scarlett's mind. She would never be able to put into words the gratitude she felt towards her husband and daughter, whose warm, comforting presence kept the scars of her death-ridden memory from festering.

Rhett helped her out of the carriage, and when she could finally drink in the sight of the small house without hindrance, Scarlett realized that although she had seen the black iron gate and cobblestone path that lead to the Wilkes' porch for times that were impossible to count, she had never really looked at it even once.

She noticed how every window of the house was thrown open, except for the one in India Wilkes's former room, how the flowers in Melly's front yard was the same as the ones that had once bloomed in Twelve Oaks, and how the place as a whole seemed to glimmer with the gentle warmth of its mistress.

Rhett's hand enveloped hers, and Scarlett's misty eyes went from the house to her husband. She realized that Bonnie had skipped merrily ahead of them, and that Rhett was looking at her with unconcealed concern.

"Are you alright, Scarlett? It's not our baby that's worrying you, is it?"

Her lips quirked into a small smile. "Oh Rhett, how you do go on."

He knew she never had any of her countless silken handkerchiefs with her in times of need, so he pulled out one of his own. "Don't act like I'm overreacting, Mrs. Butler. It just isn't like you to be emotional."

His wife could barely make him out through the unshed tears that blurred her vision, but she still tsked. "It's just our baby that's making me like this and you know it." She took the handkerchief he offered and began to wipe her eyes. "I simply…realized I haven't cared enough to really appreciate Melly's home." _Just like Melly herself._

Scarlett welcomed the flood of regret that rushed through her veins. It felt only right, fair, justified. She may have treated Rhett and her children horribly, but Melly was someone who not only experienced her abuse, but also refused to consider it that. Gentle, kind Melly with her understanding heart had never been able to think badly of those she loved, and against the whispers of the Old Guard she had loved Scarlett as much as she did her husband and son.

To her, Scarlett had always been just misunderstood. It wasn't true that she never loved Charles, she merely chose to hide her grief in an effort to be strong for Wade, herself, and Aunt Pitty. It wasn't true she never cared for Frank, she was merely scarred by the errand therefore unable to let her need to make sure she and those around her would always be provided for give way to being a traditional wife. It wasn't true that Scarlett didn't love Captain Butler, she was merely still scarred by the war and still consumed by her need to make sure they will always have enough.

It wasn't true she didn't care for her children, she merely had a hard time expressing her emotions. There were many mothers like that. It wasn't true Scarlett wanted to steal Ashley, she merely saw him as her dear, childhood friend who she cared for greatly, just as she cared for her children, her husband, Aunt Pitty, Beau, and Melanie herself. Her 'affair' with Ashley were just lies that India spun out of bitterness.

It would not be an understatement to say that Melanie Wilkes' heart was too understanding at times. She acknowledged all of the things her sister-in-law did for her, staying at Atlanta at the height of the War because she was then heavily pregnant with Beau, driving them all to Tara through two armies, letting them stay Tara despite the lack of food and money, giving Ashley a job so they would not have to go North and consort with Yankees, and none of what that sister-in-law did against her.

Scarlett would never let herself forget how badly she had treated Melly, who had always been the greatest friend one could ever have. Melly had stayed with her through thick and thin, through the disdain of the Old Guard and her friendship with the Scallywags and Carpetbaggers, all the while never thinking the worse of her like the rest of Atlanta did.

She had been blessed with the chance to finally do her part in their friendship, to treat Melly the way she deserved, and she would stop at nothing to be the great woman Melly considered her to be.

The piercing sound of hands knocking on wood tore her from her reverie, and when she realized that soon she would see Melly again, the real Melly and not the shriveled husk she had become as she laid on her deathbed, Scarlett's heart began to pound.

There was no one on earth as kind or forgiving as Melanie Wilkes. Surely, the woman would feel nothing but delight at her attempt of developing a closer friendship, right? Melly would never think that her sudden kindness was born out of regret and then reproach her for being such a bad friend before, right?

Scarlett knew her thoughts were outlandish, but she could not help it. For all her experience with charming men, she had never felt the need to ingratiate herself with women. She had always possessed an uncanny ability to make a mess of things, what if she carried that same propensity for disaster in her attempts to be a better friend to Melly?

Rhett's hand squeezed hers, and immediately she felt at peace. Her husband was with her, her children were near, and surely even her bad luck would pale at the overwhelming force of Melly's compassionate soul.

Together they climbed the steps of the Wilkes' whitewashed porch, and as the door creaked open, Scarlett knew that everything, no matter what, would be alright.

**A/N: I know I'm late posting this so please don't hate me! I was hit by Laziness, the most artistically lethal of plagues, and couldn't find it in me to finish this chapter sooner.**

**I really hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to review and point out any mistake I might have made. Requests and suggestions are most welcome.**


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